Vladimir Putin Wins Russian Election, Exit Polls Say

Alexey Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Image(MOSCOW) — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appears to have won the race for Russia’s presidential election on Sunday, according to exit polls from the state controlled All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM).

The Telegraph reports that Putin, who was expected to win the election by a wide margin, won 58.3 percent of the vote, though official polling station results will be unveiled Monday.

Numerous claims of fraud were reported in Sunday’s vote. Nearly 5,000 complaints were filed with authorities and nearly 8,000 calls were made to the electoral commission. Activists found people who had been bused in and paid for their vote, as well as evidence the same people were being transported to more than one polling station.